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No 'Automate>PDF Presentation' may see me dump CS5

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
June 11, 2010
8 replies
76966 views

I've moved from Photoshop CS3 to CS5 and have just found Adobe in their (lack of) wisdom have removed the File>Automate>PDF Presentation feature and replaced it with the lame Output option in Bridge. Unfortunately, that doesn't do what I want. I can't see any option for outputting my files at 100% print size, just a selection of presets like '2-up greeting card', 'triptych' or 'maximum size'. Then you just get a 'quality' (ie resolution) setting.

In CS3 I could go File>Automate>PDF Presentation and select multiple files, then create a press-ready file from that. I often create print advertisements where there are, say, half a dozen variants to run over a period of 6 months. From CS3, I could send the printer a single file with all the adverts in the order they were to run in. Similarly, I could send my client a single proof file with all the ads in at real-size.

Have I missed something in the Bridge Output module, or is it really as lame as it appears?

I realise in CS5 I can still 'save as' and get all the necessary pre-press settings that way, but only for a single file at a time. The Bridge Output mess is useless for this from my point of view

I thought when software vendors release new versions, they are supposed to include new features, not remove valuable existing ones. Flashy stuff like content aware fill is fun, but removing basic, useful productivity features seems bizarre. I could sort of understand that thinking in a consumer product like Elements, but not in professional software like PS.

This basically leaves me with two options. Work in CS5, then close my files, then reopen them in CS3 to create my PDFs - or dump CS5 altogether and revert to using CS3 for everything.

I had a glimmer of hope on reading on this page: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/840/cpsid_84020.html

"Optional plug-ins not installed in Photoshop CS5 and downloadable online

* PDF Presentation and Web Photo Gallery can be found in Bridge CS5 in the Adobe Output Model (AOM). If you want to download the Photoshop CS5 versions of PDF Presentation and Web Photo Gallery, please see the following document for information: go.adobe.com/kb/ts_cpsid_82824_en-us. This download package will contain the plug-in along with Optional Plug-ins Read Me. "

However, when you get to the download page, these are the only optional plugins available:

    * Picture Package (ContactSheetII)
    * ExtractPlus (Windows-only)
    * PatternMaker
    * PhotomergeUI
    * Web Photo Gallery (WebContactSheetII) plus presets
    * Script for Layer Comps to Web Photo Gallery
    * Texture presets for Texturizer
    * TWAIN

You guessed it - the one I wanted is the one that's missing! (though at least TWAIN is there - another "why on earth did they remove that").

Anyone got any suggestions, other than going back to CS3 and never wasting money on another Adobe "upgrade" again??

Dave

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Paul Riggott

There could be hope...

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/we_want_back_the_pdf_presentation

S

stopthewar24

Participant

I don't know if any progress has been made on this issue since most of these posts were written, but I would appreciate an update.

Paul, if you're still looking for usage examples of PDF Presentation, here's another for you -- I'm often in a situation where I need to scan multiple-page documents, make minor image tweaks in Photoshop, and then export the complete document as a PDF. On CS3, this was quick and did not require me to save every individual page as its own file; in CS5, there is a significant increase in wasted time and hard disk space as I need to save every page individually and cannot write the PDF from Photoshop. I also need to import PDF image collections from time to time (documents with one image per page -- scans of reading material, for example), make minor changes to some pages, and re-export as PDF. This becomes extremely time-consuming with large documents under the CS5 protocol since it requires me to save every page individually first. The loss of the PDF Presentation feature has made me somewhat wary of purchasing future Adobe software versions, simply because I don't know what other features might disappear with no viable alternatives provided. I hadn't considered that upgrading from CS3 to the CS5 Master Collection could lower my productivity, but I'll know now to be more cautious about shelling out for new versions of software.

As you wrote earlier, interface changes are eventually embraced when they lead to better workflows, but this is a case in which my workflow has become quite a bit worse. If the decision has been made to remove this particular bit of multi-image functionality for the sake of logical purity or consistency, it nonetheless comes at the expense of a very valuable bit of usability that did not seem to be doing any harm. At the very least, Adobe should provide the PDF Presentation plugin as a downloadable option.

Thanks for your attention and time,

Andy

Paul RiggottCorrect answer

Inspiring

There could be hope...

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/we_want_back_the_pdf_presentation

PDFerguson

Adobe Employee

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed their comments so far, keep them coming. I have been gathering this information, and it is extremely helpful to know how this has impacted your workflows. I will continue to push the issue within the Photoshop team, and hope to be able to address your concerns.

Note that because of company policies, I cannot comment much beyond this about the details and decisions regarding Photoshop CS6. However, if you are a member of the Photoshop pre-release program, that will be the way any news about this will first be available.

Best regards,

Paul

the_wine_snob

Inspiring

Paul,

Thank you for gathering the input, and looking into features, either added, or restored.

Appreciated,

Hunt

JJMack

Community Expert

Dave Addo wrote:
Have I missed something in the Bridge Output module, or is it really as lame as it appears?

IMO its really as lame as it appears.

Dave you may want to look at my Photo Collage Toolkit IMO contact sheets are like collages you could easily create a template for the type of contact sheets you want. You would most likely need to create portrait and landscape templates or run a script that would rotate all image to either landscape or portrait. The batch script in my toolkit can populate your images into the templates you have created. The collages will be saved as PSD file all image are placed in as smart object layer and are transformed into the collage images spaces so you full size un-cropped images are there. Images may looked cropped because of the templates you created. If your images do not have the same aspect ratio collage template images for your transformed images are masked with a layer mask in a sense cropping the full size placed image. You can optionally stamp the file name on the images and add layer styles. The script also has an option to save the collage as a PDF file addition. http://www.mouseprints.net/old/dpr/PhotoCollageToolkit.html

JJMack

A

Anonymous

Look in CS5 Bridge. There's some options there for web and pdf slideshows and you may find what you need/used to do there. I feel your pain, just a few weeks into CS5 and while there are some nice new features I really bought it for 64 bit performance - I was quite happy with the CS3 UI. So, some stuff got moved to Bridge and some got cut out completely. I may just reload CS3 for some of the older web gallery things. Hang in there though, it will get better...

JJMack

Community Expert

TLL... wrote:
Hang in there though, it will get better...

What make you think that?

JJMack

A

Anonymous

"What make you think that?"

Only in the sense that if you stick to something, like say, learning CS5's feature set you may actually find some benefit to the changes. OTOH, I can be as crabby as the next person about stupid interface changes but life's too short to stay pissed...

M

MouRogers

Participant

I'm absolutely dumbfounded by Adobe's decision to remove these basic, bread-and-butter features. It seems that Adobe has no perspective that the software it makes are tools that people have invested tens of thousands of hours mastering and depend on for their livelihood. Yes, we're locked into these tools because of their ubiquity (and in the case of PS, superiority), and I won't cry wolf and threaten to use something else, but god, talk about sewing the seeds of ill-will amongst your customers...

PDFerguson

Adobe Employee

The reason behind moving PDF Presentation to Bridge is that Bridge is designed for working with collections of files, whereas Photoshop is primarily used to edit individual files. One of the constant struggles we face in Photoshop is trying to keep it from overwhelming people with its complexity, and moving PDF Presentation was an attempt to help in this effort by moving one isolated feature out of Photoshop. Creating multi-page, multi-document PDFs belongs in Bridge, and quite honestly, never did belong in Photoshop.

That said, we do listen to customers, and we do try to be responsive to issues like this. I realize some people are unhappy with this decision, but I believe it is an opportunity for Adobe to make PDF Presentation even better and more useful within Bridge. If you have specific suggestions, I strongly urge you to let us know, either here or on the Bridge forum.

M

MouRogers

Participant

Thanks; I genuinely appreciate the reply. I've never really used Bridge before, with the exception of launching it by accident via keyboard shortcut, cursing and force quitting it. It's a big, one-window interface that takes over the screen with a different UI than the Finder, which to me is so crazy, that an application for file management would ask you to learn an entirely different interface for navigating your file system -- tiny scroll bars, no sidebar favourites, no column view (!!). It destroys flow and totally takes me out of what I'm doing.

Anyway. What I would like to be able to do is create a PDF presentation using the files I currently have open in Photoshop, without saving them. Maybe Bridge can do it, but I can't figure it out.

Sorry for the ranting -- Photoshop is obviously a great piece of software overall, and your team is doing a great job. But I do feel like ever since the "Suite" philosophy was introduced with CS1, ideological decisions have been trumping pragmatic ones. You'd be much better off paving cowpaths than trying to enforce a 'right' way of doing things, imho.

A

Anonymous

AMEN. I just did the same thing and am still dumbfounded at how horrible CS5 is.

Removal of the PDF presentation

Elimination of Contact Sheet\

No way to command-click to create anchor points in Curves adjustment layers

The keyboard shortcuts are changed for scrolling through color channels, and CANNOT BE CHANGED when dealing with adjustment layers

these things add a HUGE amount of time to my workflow. Seriously idiotic.

A

Anonymous

You didn't download the 30 day trial to find this out?

A

Anonymous

I shouldn't have to!!

This is software meant for a production environment. They shouldn't be taking away standard features or interrupting set workflows!

If efficiency is a goal, then stop elimination options. OR, if you change things, at least allow the user to bring the workflow/keyboard controls/outputs back to what they're familiar with.

A

Anonymous

I ran into the same problem. I hit F1 for help and there claims to be a picture package plugin. The web site gives you the runaround. The link for the program takes you to an area that doesn't have picture package. Not sure if picture package does a PDF from multiple images anyway.

It's seem to basic a fuction and I'm very upset they removed this. Lucky I left CS3 on my computer. Imagine, I have to go backward to get my work done. Lost an hour trying to figure this all out. Sorry Adobe, this is NOT going to help your future sales. This is not the only issue either.

... Akiley

A

Anonymous

The reason is that it is not enough that you spent $700 on Photoshop - Adobe also wants you to buy Adobe Acrobat which does the PDF Merge.

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